Summary of State Statutory Responsibilities of the Guardian

The guardian has the statutory duty to provide for the ward’s care, treatment, habilitation, education, support and maintenance and the powers and duties shall include the following:

Assuring the ward resides in the best and least restrictive environment reasonably available

Assuring the ward receives medical care and other services that are needed

Promoting and protecting the care, comfort, safety, health and welfare of the ward

Providing required consents on behalf of the ward, particularly medical (guardians must be on-call 24 hours a day, seven days a week)

Note: A status of the Ward Report must be filed annually in the Probate Court concerning the care, placement and condition of the ward as well as the number and nature of personal contacts.

Brief Overview of the responsibilities of the conservator
(Statutes RSMO 475.130 – 475.270)

After letters of Conservatorship are issued by the Probate Court, the conservator has 30 days to take possession of the protectee’s assets and to file an inventory and appraisement in the court showing the assets and their value. You can extend time by requesting for an extension. These figures begin the accounting cycle. Annually, a Settlement must be filed showing in detail all receipts and expenditures occurring during the preceding year.

Separate bank accounts are to be kept for each protectee and the property, income and bank accounts are not to be co-mingled with the personal property of the conservator.

Protectee’s funds may be spent for purposes only authorized by statue or court order. The protectee’s property cannot be sold, traded, leased, mortgaged, transferred or discarded without court approval.

A conservator shall, under the supervision of the court, protect, preserve and manage the estate, invest it prudently and account for it faithfully. A conservator’s duty is to act in the interest of the protectee and to avoid conflicts of interest which impair his ability so to act.

Special thanks to Carolyn Vienhage, retired Public Administrator for Green County, for her contribution of information.